Saving Merlin
by Jtoasn
Summary: Merlin has a past in which no one knows much of, but something or someone that was forgotten has come back to him. But his Destiny was to always be alone, he was never meant to fall in love. Merlin/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"I don't know why you insisted on coming along as well" Arthur said, disbelievingly to Morgana who rode behind him, "It's just a routine inspection"

"Exactly, so there's nothing for me to be worried about, there's no real harm here" she said. Arthur groaned, and muttered under his breath.

She was right of course; there was nothing particularly dangerous about this task. All that would happen, was that he would go to the group of people who were passing through his father's lands, and ask them a few questions; where are you going? How many people are you taking? And if there were no problems, you are more than welcome to stop by Camelot castle.

Routine.

But he still didn't appreciate Gwen and Morgana tagging along; he already had his hands full taking care of Merlin.

Speaking of...

"Merlin, get me some water" he said, when there was no slow rush coming from Merlin's horse, he turned to look at his servant. "Merlin!"

The only sound that came from him was a mumble that sounded like "Five more minutes Gaius"

Morgana and Gwen giggled, "Well that explains the lateness in the morning"

Arthur rolled his eyes, even in his sleep Merlin _still _managed to embarrass him. At least he wasn't snoring.

"Merlin!"

But there was no movement from his servant, which only made the girls giggle more.

"You've got to give him credit though; it's not that easy to sleep on a moving horse"

Arthur groaned, "Typical Merlin, to have a talent that's completely useless"

"Well, you might learn something Arthur, like, how to dress yourself"

Arthur didn't really think that he would be able to handle this taunting; he had to wake Merlin up, one way or another.

He smirked as he went around Merlins horse, and slapped it with his hand. The horse, shocked, jolted and ran ahead, which ended Merlin's sleep, as he panicked and tried to control the horse, whilst screaming.

"Arthur!" Morgana gasped, as she watched "That's horrible"

Arthur stopped laughing, and shook his head, annoyed, "There's no pleasing you women, honestly"

"Merlin, watch out for that – ooh" Gwen called out, but Merlin had already very successfully fallen off the horse, as he slammed into a low hung branch.

Arthur whooped at the impact, which caused Morgana and Gwen to send him identical evil looks.

"What?"

"Merlin, are you okay?" Morgana asked as she got to where he was sitting, rubbing his head.

"What happened?"

"Arthur hit your horse" Gwen explained as she helped Merlin off the ground, he looked up at the smirking Arthur.

"Well, now you know to wake up on time" Arthur said, a smirk still on his lips.

"Are you okay? Can you walk?" Gwen asked.

Merlin nodded, but stumbled sidewards as he tried to walk unassisted, which made Arthur burst out into more laughter.

"Merlin, are you okay?" Gwen asked again.

But he was slightly dazed, the knock had sparked something in his memory, something... that he forgot about, it was that smell.

"Can you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

"That smell, I know that smell"

Arthur grinned more, "Great, he's _more_ delusional now"

"No, I can smell it too" Morgana said, the other two stopped and started to sniff the air.

"Someone's making a fire; we must be close to the people's campsite" Arthur stated, "The three of you stay here and take care of the horses, I'll be right back"

"There is no way that I've come all this way, to _not _see these people, I'm coming with you" Morgana said, as she got off the horse and led it towards the smell.

"Morg- ugh, fine, then you two stay here and take care of the horses" Arthur said.

"I'm fine, Gwen" Merlin said, shrugging off Gwen's hands. He took the reins of his horse (which had stopped to munch on grass near where his rider had fallen off) and started to follow Morgana, ignoring Arthur.

"Merlin, I just said to stay here" Arthur called out, but the knock on the head had messed with his senses and he ignored Arthur.

Gwen got the reigns of her horse as well, and began to follow Merlin.

"Gwen, stay here and take care of the..." he began, when he realised that half the horses were already on their way to somewhere else, he sighed, resigned "Take care of Merlin when we get there"

"Yes, my lord"

--

JTOASN


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Merlin stood by the horses, and tried to focus on the smell that he had just managed to remember, when a sharp pain alerted him back to the real world.

"Ow... Gwen I said I'm fine" he said irritably at Gwen.

"You fell off a horse; you're not fine Merlin, here, just let me –"

"No, Gwen I'm fine, go ahead with Morgana, I'm fine here" he said, Gwen's face fell and she nodded, throwing the wet cloth at Merlin.

"Fine"

Merlin felt guilty about snapping at her, she was only trying to help after all. He groaned at the fact that he would have to go and apologize to her afterwards, he was always bad at apologies.

He leaned his head against the horse, trying to remember what he had remembered when he hit his head. It was something, that he had forgotten, something about the smell.

He inhaled deeply and hoped that it would trigger a memory, but all it ended up doing was force the horse to move to the side a couple of steps, causing Merlin to stagger and fall, into the warm mess that the horse left.

"Ugh" he said, his pants and shirt completely covered in muck, "Could this day get any better?"

He got up and smelled his sleeve, and tried not to gag. Arthur would kill him if he saw him covered in horse shit, (after he finished laughing of course). But he wouldn't let him ride the horse, which meant a 2 day walk back to Camelot, drenched in horse shit.

He looked around the woods, and decided to go and hope that someone left their clothes outside, so he could change. He hoped that no one would see him, his stomach rumbled, maybe borrow some food as well.

After he secured the horses, he began to walk towards the camp site.

He bit his lip noticing that there were a lot more people than he hoped, and then remembered that there was a river near here, the same river that held Avalon. Maybe he could wash instead of having to steal clothes, but he would have to do it quickly.

He edged his way along the path, knowing that he had half an hour at the most, to get himself presentable.

He looked over a ledge and saw the river, exactly the same as he remembered it, but there were woman there washing clothes, he noticed another section of the river, he walked over to that side, and was happy to see that there was only one woman there, a girl around his age.

He would just have to talk to her and explain his situation, so that she could move away and leave him to wash quickly in privacy.

He stepped out of the bushes she seemed to not notice or hear him, as he stepped behind her and prepared to talk to her.

Then suddenly, as if under a spell, he managed to sway as déjà vu encircled his mind; the smell, a girl, an innocent gesture.

Out of instinct, he slowed down the scene, he moved forwards. It was clear now, the smell, the memory, the taste... he knew what it was...

"Eleonora!"

Time quickened again, and she turned and screamed, as they fell into the lake.

Seconds later, they emerged and they soon faced each other in the water, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you"

"D-do I know y... " she asked, then paused, he beamed at her.

It took her a couple of moments to recognize the face, she gasped as she swam forwards "Merlin?"

"It's been a while" he said, "Hasn't it?"

She smiled and hugged him, he hugged her back. He smiled as he smelt her hair, that was it, the mixture of fresh rain, and jasmine flowers that was unique to her.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, as they pulled apart, he laughed as she took his face in her hands and examined it.

"I was helping... a friend out, and I sort of fell into some horse... um... poo, so I thought I might come and bathe quickly" Merlin explained, she smiled at him again, as they moved towards the bank "Sorry about this... I wasn't expecting that reaction"

"You should've known better than to use magic to sneak up on a girl" she said, as she got out of the water.

As she did, Merlin stared for a second at the wet clothes that clung onto her figure, a figure that she did not have when they first met.

"You don't look much like a girl" he said, she stared at him, "N-no, no, that's not what I meant. I meant -"

"Oh I know what you meant Merlin; I'd have to say that you don't look like the boy I used to know either"

They both smiled.

"Um... are you going to stay in there all day?" she asked.

He laughed, "No-no, of course not"

He stepped out of the water, and examined his clothes, "Well, at least I got the stink off, Arthur should be happy with that. Um... he's probably waiting"

"Hold on, don't think that you can just surprise me like this and then leave"

He grinned, "Well, you don't know Arthur, he doesn't like to be made to wait"

"Well, he's going to have to wait while you change"

He looked at her confused, "I'm sure my brother won't mind that you borrow some of your clothes, you might not have gotten all the muck off"

"Are you sure, because the last time I saw your brother, he managed to throw me down into a lake"

"But that was ten years ago..." she said.

"Yeah, so he's probably going to throw me off a cliff this time"

"Well, you need it more than he does" she said, then frowned "How about we just don't tell him"

"He finds out anyway" Merlin said, "I swear he can read minds"

They both smirked as they made their way back; Merlin was suddenly very unconcerned about Arthur.

"How's your mother?"

"Good, she's at home at the moment

"So where does that leave you?"

"Camelot, um... castle. I'm sort of the physician's help and a servant at the castle" he said, he didn't really want to mention that he was the servant of the future king.

"Gaius is the physician right?"

"Y-yeah, how do you know that?"

"Well, I remember your mother mentioning it" she said, as they walked into the tent designated to her.

"That was 10 years ago, how do you remember that?"

"I just do, um... how did you know it was me, by the river?" she said, as she led him into the back room. "Turn around so I can get dressed"

He did as he was told, as she went behind a screen. He tried to hold the temptation of looking, by examining the small items around her room.

He laughed, "Well, you're the only person I've ever met with gold eyes"

"But you didn't see my face"

"Um..." he said, blushing, "It was um... that thing that you put in your hair, I... for some reason, I just knew it was you"

She smiled, as she stepped out "Alright, wait here a second, I'll go get some clothes for you"

He nodded, and she left. Feeling a bit surreal that he had forgotten about her, sure it had been 10 years, but... you don't forget your first kiss.

He shook his head, and took off his shirt, rolling his arm; he must've been more injured from the fall than he first thought.

"Here- um..." she said, stepping in, and seeing him there, undressing.

"Sorry" they both said, turning away from each other, blushing profusely.

She turned and put the clothes on the dresser, "Um... I'll go pack you some food fo- Merlin, what happened to your back?"

[A/N- Kudos if your recognize this part]

"What do yo- what are you doing?" he asked nervously, as she was suddenly touching his back, his heart began to race wildly. He tried to turn around but he was incapable of getting his legs to cooperate to what his head was saying.

"Sorry if my hands are cold"

But they weren't, they were quiet warm and gentle against his back, Merlin immediately relaxed as she massaged the knots, he closed his eyes concentrating, trying not to get too excited.

"Is it better?"

"Y-yeah" he managed to say, but he had to get her to stop, his heart was beating wildly and if he didn't stop her, he didn't know what would happen...

"Really… El, it's fine I don't need all thi…"

"Don't be stubbo-" she began, but he grabbed her hand, and she looked up at him, when their eyes met, she suddenly understood why they should stop, how they _should've_ stopped.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds, before his hand snaked around her waist, and she took the few remaining steps towards him. It was only when their chests were touching that they both realised that they realised that they couldn't think of anything else but the distance between their lips.

"We shouldn't..." she began, unconvincingly.

"It's a bad idea..." he tried to reason.

She bit her lip as she felt his breath on her cheek; she put his hands on his shoulders, as he leaned in.

-

JTOASN


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Previously...

"We shouldn't..." she began, unconvincingly.

"It's a bad idea..." he tried to reason.

She bit her lip as she felt his breath on her cheek; she put his hands on his shoulders, as he leaned in.

"Eleonora!"

The name burst their bubble instantly, both flushed and annoyed at the interruption, they both separated.

"Um... I- that's probably Aragorn" she said, avoiding his gaze "Looking for me, wondering where I am um..."

"Y-yeah, Arthur might be angry about now too, so um..."

"You're shirt" she said, as she held out the clean shirt towards him.

Their hands touched, and they both looked at each other again.

"Eleonora!!"

"I-I should go" Merlin said, nodding.

It took all his self control, to just forget about Arthur and go back to Eleonora. But he didn't, and with much regret he made his way back to the horses.

"Merlin! Where have you been? You just leave the horses here?" Arthur said.

"Sorry, sire" Merlin said.

"What?" Merlin never apologizes (easily).

But Merlin didn't answer the stunned prince; and just got on his horse and started down the trail, the other three were left slightly stunned and worried.

They rode back in silence, which was unusual, but what was more unusual was that Merlin was doing what he was told.

"Merlin, wat- thanks" Arthur said, as Merlin held out the bottle to him.

Gwen and Morgana exchanged looks, and Arthur was equally concerned. This went on until they reached the castle.

"... and I need you to get my shoes fixed, clean my room, fix the horses shoes, polish my saddle, clean the stables, is that clear?"

"Yes, sire"

He looked back at Morgana and Gwen who was also at a loss, Gwen had noticed something else when they got there "Merlin, whose shirt is that?"

"Friends..." he muttered, and then he went back to be completely lost in his own world, as he started to do what Arthur told him.

"But you don't have any friends" Arthur said.

"Yes, sire"

"Merlin, I dema -" Arthur began.

"Prince Arthur, your father has called for you"

"In a minute" Arthur said, but the guard did not waver.

"He says it's urgent"

Arthur nodded and walked away with the guard, Gwen and Morgana looked at Merlin, as he walked away with the horses.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know, maybe that knock on the head was worse than we thought, we should get Gaius to check on him" Morgana said, Gwen nodded and walked with her back to the chambers.

--

"Merlin" Arthur said, "Merlin! This is irritating, what's wrong with you?"

"Yes, sire"

Arthur groaned as his manservant didn't respond again to his question. He never thought it would be so boring to have a servant that didn't talk back to him, that didn't fight with him; he didn't like it at all.

"Don't forget that we have that party to go to tomorrow tonight" Arthur said "We have guests coming, so could you go get ready, I'd hate for them to see we have servants with such low standards of hygiene"

"Yes, sire"

Merlin walked out of the room, and back to Gaius, not seeing Gwen leaving the room, until she stopped him outside the room.

"Merlin"

"Yes?"

"Listen, I'm really worried about you, you haven't been yourself lately" Gwen said.

"What do you mean?"

"Did something happen?" Gwen asked, "Have you done something wrong? You know you can tell me"

Merlin wondered for a second, "No, there's nothing to tell"

"But –"

"Thanks Gwen" he said as he walked away, Gwen frowned there was something that he wasn't telling her.

"Merlin, there come sit here for a minute" he said, as Merlin started to prepare Arthur stuff for the party.

" Gaius"

"You haven't gotten into any trouble lately have you?"

"No, not that I'm aware of" Merlin said "Although, that's what everyone seems to be suggesting lately, have you been talking to Gwen?"

"We're all a bit concerned about you"

"I-I'm fine Gaius, really... there's nothing wrong" Merlin said.

"If you say so, but let me just remind you, you're not supposed to polish his hat"

As Gaius left the room, Merlin looked down and noticed that he was in fact, attempting to polish Arthur's hat. He groaned and lay back on the bed.

"It would've only been a kiss, I mean I could've stopped" _no you couldn't._

"Ugh... It's not like I'm going to see her again. No, I've just got to stop thinking about it; it was ten years ago..."

He stared at the ceiling, "Pull yourself together Merlin, and just forget about her"

--

JTOASN


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Merlin, you're late" Arthur said, surprised to see Merlin coming late to his room, for the first time in 3 days.

"Yeah, I slept in..?" Merlin said, as he looked at Arthur's smile.

"Great, that's great"

"How is that great?"

"It's great because... now you can clean my room" he said, Merlin made a face again, and walked past him.

"Didn't I clean it yesterday?"

"Yes, you did, but I need you to clean it again" Truthfully, Arthur was happy that the real Merlin had come back; his room didn't really need to be cleaned.

The rest of the day was spent the same way, Arthur bossing Merlin around, a couple of complaints and smart remarks.

Normal.

Even Morgana and Gwen saw how different it was. Later that night at the party, he seemed to be conversing with everyone normally.

Like there was no problem at all.

"Seems like your talk with him, really sorted him out" Morgana said to Gwen.

Gwen just blushed; she smiled as Merlin went to get more wine for Arthur, who seemed to be engrossed in a pamphlet.

"Having trouble, _my lord_" Morgana asked Arthur, in a way that meant that she was making fun of him.

"For your information, _Morgana, _I was reading this pamphlet that I was given to about the troupe performing tonight"

"Where did you get that?"

"When we met them the other day"

"You mean the gypsies are performing here?" Morgana asked incredulously.

"You need to appreciate these things Morgana" Arthur said, she snatched the pamphlet away from him.

"Oh, is this the reason why you wanted them to come here" she said, "This girl?"

She looked back at the paper, "The most beautiful girl in all of Rome, a gypsy girl? Why Arthur, I didn't know that you would be so shal... well I did, but you haven't even seen her"

"I am not shallow, thank you very much, I just happened to notice that it was one of their main performances"

"I wonder what your father would think about you and this girl from dell-art-di?"

"I think it's pronounced, dell'arte"

At that word, two things happened. One, Merlin immediately, spat out the ale that he had been drinking, and secondly it was announced that the entertainment would begin shortly.

"What is wrong with you Merlin?!" Arthur exclaimed.

"S-sorry, my lord" He said, which made the others exchange a look. _Oh no_

Morgana raised her eyebrow, "Merlin, do you know this troupe?"

"Troupe? What troupe? This troupe?" He said, quickly. Arthur and Morgana exchanged a look.

"Merlin, hold on, come here..." Arthur began, "Have you met these people before?"

Merlin started to play with the edges of his sleeves, an instant sign that he was nervous, "Well..."

But he was cut off, as the music began to sound around the hall. The attention was drawn to the centre where dancers came out.

Merlin slunk back to the wall, and grabbed a mug of ale; if there was one thing he knew about tonight, was that if Eleonora was performing, then her brother would be here. This wasn't exactly comforting to Merlin.

Aragorn probably already knew that Eleonora and Merlin had met, he hoped that he didn't know the circumstances or, the fact that he was in her bedroom (even if nothing happened, he always overreacted).

"Merlin are you oka- whoa steady there" Gwen said, as he downed the entire contents of the mug, he grabbed another one.

"I'm fine, really" he said.

Arthur grabbed the next mug from Merlin's hands, "What's wrong wit –"

"And presenting our most famous dancer, the beautiful, the lovely.... Anabella!!"

They stopped and watched her dance; even with a false name, Merlin still knew it was her. She looked so exotic and beautiful amongst the blandness of the castle.

Without noticing, someone clapped Merlin hard on the shoulder, he choked on his ale when he realized who it was.

"Prince Arthur, it's a pleasure to see you again, this must be Morgana" Aragorn said, "I've heard much of your beauty on my travels, but I see that none do you justice"

She smiled, "It's a pleasure"

"A beauty is the girl dancing" Arthur said, "Sorry; I haven't introduced my manservant Merlin, and Gwen"

"So this is Merlin?"

"Well..." Merlin said, nervously.

"Wait, you know each other?"

"Yeah, in our younger years we passed through his village, when was that... 10 years ago?"

Merlin nodded, afraid to speak. The others looked at him strangely.

"You seem tense Merlin, I think you've had enough to drink" Gwen said.

Merlin shook his head, "N-no I'm not"

"So you've met before?" Morgana asked.

"Yes, but he seems so much different from what I remember"

"It has been ten years" Gwen reasoned.

"Yes, of course, or it could be that... well, all the other times, or most, I've seen him, he's been half dressed and in my sister's room. I've always wondered Merlin, why I always catch you there"

The three looked at Merlin stunned, "Um... bad timing?"

"That always seems to be the case, you haven't really learned from past mistakes either, have you? The other day, a clear example, but I shall leave you now to enjoy the rest of your night. Your highness, ladies... Merlin" He turned to leave, "Oh, and I was wondering if you know where my shirt went, went missing a couple of days ago"

Aragorn left, and he looked at the three surrounding him.

"T-That wasn't like is sounded, r-really, it's c-completely different. He's c-completely taking it out of context"

But the looks on their faces proved that he was right to drink all that ale, so he couldn't remember this tomorrow.

--

JTOASN


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Merlin changed his mind, it was a really bad idea to be drunk when being lectured by four people, scratch that, three... Gwen hadn't said a word since they got to Gaius' quarters.

"I can't believe you Merlin, usually I wouldn't be so strict about this, but when your personal trysts and indiscretions are known it reflects a bad name to us"

"But..."

"No, it's embarrassing enough that you didn't mention it, let alone pretend like it didn't happen"

"It..."

"No, and that poor girl, did you consider what it would do to her reputation as well?"

"She..."

"And you still have nothing to say, you don't deny it do you?" Arthur yelled.

"I do..."

"Admit it, this is why you've been like this these past couple of days, you've only been thinking of her, isn't that true?"

Merlin looked down, "Yes, but not bec..."

"So you admit it, you would –"

"I haven't slept with her!" Merlin cried out.

The three of them stood there stunned, not believing. "Clearly you can see that we just don't believe you"

"Eleonora and I are just friends, we always have been... it was a misunderstanding" Merlin tried to explain.

"Why would her brother say something like that then?"

"Because he likes to mess around with me"

Morgana shook her head, "I can't believe you Merlin, and I thought you were different"

She took the silent Gwen's hand and led her out of the room. Arthur just looked at him and shook his head.

"You're unbelievable Merlin, really... I-I just don't think it would be good if you came tomorrow" Arthur said, "Not until I figure something out"

Merlin tried to speak, but he had already left, he winced and turned to Gaius.

"Gaius, believe me when I tell you that this is a misunderstanding"

"What will your mother think of this?"

Merlin paled, "Please, Gaius, it's a mistake. Don't tell mother"

"I'm afraid you've left me no choice" he said, Merlin ran up to him.

"Gaius, please, don't tell her, nothing has happened between me and Eleonora"

Gaius turned and looked at Merlin straight in the eye, "So, you're telling me that there is no relationship, past or present, between you and this girl"

Merlin bit his lip nervously, "Well, when you put it like that..."

"Merlin!"

"She was my first kiss alright" Merlin cried out, he then blushed, "We met ten years ago, we were ten years old... she- we- it was just a kiss"

Gaius stood shocked at the revelation, _of course, sometimes even he forgot, that Merlin's is a human being._

"And, now Merlin?"

Merlin shook his head, "I-I saw her, and I knew it was her. Sh-she always had that smell about her, like fresh rain and jasmine, you know?"

Gaius watched as Merlin's eyes glazed over.

"I-I didn't know... she, she wasn't a girl anymore... she _isn't_ a girl anymore, and she remembered me. Me... I mean, who am I?"

He laughed to himself, Gaius didn't interrupt him. "And... I don't know, I've never felt this way before. It-it's like my chest is about to explode, and there's this fire in my stomach, and I get dizzy. Most of all, I just want to hold her... It's like magic, but so... painful"

Merlin shook his head, "... and then suddenly, she was there, and I was there. We didn't even kiss, but... God, I wanted to"

Gaius cleared his throat, "Nothing happened?"

Merlin shook his head, suddenly embarrassed.

"Well, since nothing actually happened, I won't inform your mother, but before anything else happens, I need to tell you a few things about this"

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked.

Gaius grinned, "You might not like it, but it's important that you know these things, pass me that anatomy book"

--

JTOASN


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Arthur walked into his room, the next morning and did not expect Merlin to be setting out his breakfast.

"I thought I told you that I didn't need your services today"

Merlin shrugged, "You know me I don't listen to prats"

Arthur couldn't help but smile, and then he remembered why he was angry at Merlin.

"Look, Mer-"

"Arthur, I know what you're going to say, and I swear to you, that I am not lying when I say that I haven't been _with_ her" Merlin explained, "I mean, it's me"

"That's true" Arthur said.

Merlin grimaced at the thinly veiled insult.

"But why would he say those things, especially about his own sister"

Merlin sighed, "Aragorn, had (from what I remember) a tendency to take things out of context and to say things without thinking of other people's feelings or considering the consequences"

"From what you remember?" Arthur asked.

"Ellie was constantly complaining about it, last time we met" Merlin said, absentmindedly, he then shook his head "But the point is, none of it is true"

"You know Gwen and Morgana are quiet upset by these events" Arthur said, remembering that he had heard Gwen crying the night before. "Why didn't you say something before?"

"I was... something happened, and I decided that I shouldn't put any more thought on her anymore, and then she was there last night and..."

"She was there?!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Dancing..." Merlin mumbled, as his eyes glazed over again, as he remembered her swirling.

Arthur looked at Merlin, he had never seen him like this before, and it was strange and foreign and frankly... he didn't like it.

"You're telling me, that you're just friends with this girl?"

Merlin ran his hand through his hair, "I-I... yeah, we're just friends"

_Liar_

"I do hope, Merlin, that I do not have to lecture you about this situation" Arthur said, Merlin blushed as he remembered the lengthy discussion that Gaius had forced him to endure about, *cough* the birds and the bees.

"No, Gaius has been through it... thoroughly"

"Then you have nothing to worry about" Arthur said, as he faced his food again. "Go feed my horse and prepare; I have decided to go hunting tomorrow"

Merlin nodded and left the room. He ran his hand through his hair for the second time that day, and he shook his head.

He had to get these thoughts out of his mind, remember what Gaius had told him. Abstinence is key.

"Merlin?"

He stopped and looked up; Eleonora was standing in front of him

_Abstinence is ... what is it?_

"Merlin, are you okay?"

He nodded, "Mm hmm, fine, how about you?"

"I um... heard about what my brother said, last night" she said, "I'm sorry if it caused you trouble. I mean, of course you got in trouble"

Merlin shrugged, "I should've known he would do something like that, it's Aragorn"

She smiled, "H-he said that he was feeling a bit guilty about it, so he's going to explain and apologize"

He smiled, and looked at her sideways "How did you manage to do that?"

"I told him that I wouldn't dance again, if he didn't fix things"

He looked at her and smiled, "You'd do that? For me"

She blushed and smiled, "So what are you doing now?"

"I'm um... have to go feed Arthurs horses" Merlin said, she nodded, "Do you want to come?"

"Sure" she said, and then they walked passed a guard who nodded at the sight of Merlin, "So you didn't mention that this Arthur of yours was the future king"

Merlin smiled, "Didn't I mention it? I thought I did"

She pushed him slightly, "You knew you didn't"

He laughed, and he then waved at some of the kids that he had become accustomed to having vegetables thrown at him.

"It seems nice here" she said.

"It is" he said, and then he added as an afterthought, "Except for executions"

"What?"

"Here... the king, Uther, doesn't like magic. My first day here, they executed a son of a woman, he was a magician" Merlin said, he led her to the stables.

She looked at him, "What about...?"

He opened the doors to where Arthur's horse was, while she waited for an answer.

He sighed, "No one except for Gaius knows about me, and I shouldn't have to tell you, that I don't want anyone to find out about _your_ talents either"

"My talents; are nothing" she said, she looked at the horse and fed it another sugar cube "_You're_ the one that I'm worried about, the one I've been always worried about"

Gaius's voice was in his head, _abstinence, _but he couldn't stop moving and putting his hand underneath, as she fed the horse.

_God, he wanted to kiss her right now._

ABSTINENCE!

"Merlin!"

He moved away instantly as the horse grunted, wanting more sugar, Merlin saw Gwen's father walking towards them. He was glad to see that Gwen wasn't with him, the situation didn't really look... well, good.

"H-hello, how are you?" Merlin stammered out.

"Good, good... busy as always, and who's this?" he asked, noticing Eleonora for the first time.

"This is Eleonora, an um..." Merlin said as his mouth suddenly dried up.

"And old friend" she finished.

"Mm... an old friend"

--

JTOASN


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"I'm just worried about you Gwen, after last night..."Morgana began.

"It's fine... just a bit of shock" she said, forcing a smile on, "Really, I don't care who he goes around with"

Morgana looked at Gwen, "You never know, it might all be a huge misunderstanding"

Gwen shook her head, "It doesn't matter to me"

But Morgana knew that Gwen wasn't being truthful, she knew it last night when she hardly spoke a word and then burst into tears in her room.

"I bet she's not even that pretty" Morgana added, and this at least got her a smile from Gwen, "I mean, a gypsy girl... besides the Anabella girl, the rest weren't much to look at"

Gwen nodded, "You're probably right"

"... So I just wanted to come and tell you that, it was a huge misunderstanding"

Both girls looked up to see Aragorn talking to Arthur, who nodded, "Of course it is, I mean... it's Merlin, he can't even defend himself properly"

Aragorn looked at him, "You have no idea"

Arthur squinted at Aragorn, déjà vu.

"Ah, morning ladies" Aragorn said, Morgana and Gwen nodded in his direction, "I'm glad you're here, I would just like to apologize for last night, I spoke out of turn and harshly against Merlin. It really was a misunderstanding, on my part I overreacted, Eleonora is my younger sister, and I have always been... overprotective of her"

They both nodded, "So, your sister isn't...?"

"Eleonora and Merlin were great friends when they were younger; they had a happy history together"

"Well then, as long as it was a misunderstanding" Morgana said, "Are you staying in town for long?"

"We'd stay for a couple of days, at the most" Aragorn said.

"But the roads at these times are dangerous and there are thieves about" Morgana said, Arthur glared at her; she was teasing him on purpose wasn't she? "Perhaps a week or two would be more suitable"

Aragorn smiled, a charming smile, "As you wish, my lady"

He bowed and walked away, Morgana looked over at Gwen, "He's quiet the charmer isn't he?"

"He's a gypsy, of course he is" Arthur said.

"What of you and this Anabella girl?" Morgana asked, "Didn't you fall in love with her, before you even saw her face, or heard her voice"

"That is different"

"How so?" Morgana asked.

"She hasn't bewitched me" Arthur said, "I didn't even see her dance prope –"

But he stopped when Morgana hit him and motioned towards Gwen, who was still a bit upset, even if they knew it was a misunderstanding.

Arthur cleared his throat, "It looks like rain"

"Yes, it does"

Gaius peeked out of his door and spotted them walking along, "Excuse me, but do you happen to know where Merlin is?"

"Merlin? Yes, I sent him to feed my horses" Arthur said, and then he looked confused.

Gaius nodded, "Of course, my apologies"

Morgana started to walk again, but Arthur stood in contemplation.

"What's wrong?"

He pressed his lips together, and then mouthed, 'Send Gwen away"

Morgana nodded, still not understanding, "Gwen, I'm sorry... but could you possibly be able to go to my room and fetch my locket, I forgot to put it on this morning"

Gwen nodded and left the two.

"It's already dark, I sent Merlin to feed the horses during breakfast" he said, as soon as Gwen was out of earshot.

"Where do you think he went?"

"I don't know, I supposed he was running errands for Gaius"

"You don't think...?"

Arthur shrugged, "Even Merlin doesn't take this long just to feed horses"

--

JTOASN


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Arthur was fuming; he had been looking for Merlin everywhere, and still hadn't managed to find him.

"When I see him, I'm going to wring his neck and... and... put him in the stocks!"

"Who?"

Arthur groaned, "Not now Merlin... Merlin?"

Arthur looked incredulously at Merlin, who stood in his room with his clothes, albeit slightly confused, "Yes?"

"Where have you been?"

Merlin just stood there, still confused, "I was preparing your stuff for tomorrow... you said you were going hunting?"

Arthur raised one finger at his manservant and looked at him, "Tsk... Did I say that?"

Merlin nodded, and then he suggested "Maybe you're too sick to go hunting"

"I'm fine" Arthur said, as he sat down in his chair, his head in his hands, "You're the one who is sick"

"Me?!"

"Yes, _you. _Surely it doesn't take _that _long to just feed my horses" Arthur said, "If I didn't know any better, you may have been with... with that gypsy girl"

Merlin shook his head, "You know we're just friends; and preparing your things for hunting does take a long time, with the arrows, horses shoes, polishing your armour... and then Gaius sent me to do some errands"

Arthur ignored him, or at least pretended to as he ate his dinner.

He didn't know why he had been so convinced that Merlin might have been with the gypsy girl, it really isn't any of his business after all.

Then there was Gwen.

Did Merlin really have no idea that she felt so strongly about him? Was he so clueless to that fact, that everyone else could clearly see that she was upset by all this?

Why did he have to be so god damned, "Thick?"

"Pardon?"

"The soup is too thick, I can't eat this" Arthur said, covering his thought that he had said aloud "Take it away"

Merlin raised his eyebrows and shrugged, "Okay"

Arthur watched as Merlin picked up his plates, he still didn't understand.

Why would anyone like Merlin?

Gwen or a gypsy girl, it was confusing. Not to mention, how hard it to show someone how you feel... If Gwen just told Merlin, then he would know... and none of this nonsense would have occurred.

It's not _that _hard to tell someone that you l...

"Arthur?"

"Hm?" he looked surprised to see Morgana standing in front of him, when did she get here?

"Are you okay?"

"I think he's a bit sick" Merlin said, "I told him to stay away from the lamb but..."

"Merlin, go I don't need you anymore!" Arthur said, he watched Merlin leave, "And don't think about drinking any of it"

Merlin rolled his eyes as he balanced the tray back to the kitchen, Morgana waited until she was sure he had left.

"What happened, where did you find him?"

"In my room"

"What?"

Arthur sighed, "I... forgot I sent him to prepare my things for a hunting trip tomorrow"

Morgana frowned, "So, there was nothing to worry about?"

"I think we're reading too much into it, perhaps they are just friends" Arthur said, "You can be old childhood friends you know, without being lovers..."

They both caught each other's eyes for a split second.

"I should go" they both said together.

"Big day tomorrow" Arthur said, grinning nervously.

"Yes, I expect it would be" she said, and she bowed slightly before turning away and leaving the room.

"_Big day tomorrow_" Arthur repeated to himself.

"Idiot"

Morgana whispered against the door, "_Yes, I expect it would be_"

"Are you alright, milady?"

"Arthur can be so irritating sometimes"

Gwen grinned slightly, Morgana could see that she was still upset, but knew that she wouldn't admit it.

"Gwen, I'll be fine for the rest of the night, thank you"

Gwen bowed and went to leave.

"Gwen!" Morgana said, _what does she say now?_ "Don't read into this whole Merlin thing, they really are just friends"

Gwen nodded and smiled, "Okay"

Morgana smiled encouragingly at her, and sighed as she left. She really hoped that she was right when she said that, she didn't want to see Gwen hurt.

"Please let them really be just friends"

--

JTOASN


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Come on, I'll show you" Merlin said, as he took Eleonora's hand and led her to Gaius' and his quarters. She ran alongside him in the night.

"Gaius? Gaius?" Merlin asked as he walked into the room, "I guess he's not here. So... what do you think?"

"I think that living here wouldn't be so bad" she said, "Look at all this"

Merlin beamed, it was true that Gaius really did have all the facilities that the king could provide.

"Do you use everything in here?" she asked.

"Not really... but just in case we do need anything, we have it in our reach" Merlin explained.

"I suppose" she said, and then she looked at him sidewards and grinned, "So what do _you _do here?"

Merlin grinned, "I help Gaius with things, you know... running errands and picking herbs"

"And you have to deal with Arthur, you mustn't find a lot of time for yourself"

He shrugged, "I manage"

They stood looking at each other for a while.

"Come on, I want to show you something" Merlin said, as he took her to the small room up the stairs "Gaius gave me this, to practice my magic"

She sat on his bed and looked through the book, Merlin stared at her.

They were acting as if they were just friends, but then there were moments where he just had a strong urge to grab her and throw her on the nearest table and just do what he would with her...

"Merlin?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just... thinking" he said, he focused on the book again "So, um... what do you think?"

"It's great, can you do anything?" she asked, handing him back the book.

"Well..." he looked at her, and saw her earrings, "Can I have this?"

"What, you mean my earrings?"

"Yeah" she handed them over, "Watch this"

The small golden butterfly earrings glowed, and then flew up from his hand, living golden butterflies, he turned to look at her reaction, and she laughed.

"Oh... Merlin" she said, "You're amazing"

She turned and Merlin felt that emotion again, he was well aware that she was in his room, and that Gaius wasn't here, they were alone... but he also knew that if anything happened, her brother would kill him.

"Ahem... so what about you're magic?"

"Mine?" she asked, she looked at the golden butterflies that were flying around their heads, and she caught them, cupping them in her hands.

There was a moment of crackling, and when she opened her hands again, they seemed to be frozen, mid-flight in a crystal glass globe.

He grinned, "Now, _that's _amazing"

She grinned.

He couldn't help but wonder if she knew what she was doing to him. "So... how did you ever get the prince's attention for him to hire you as his manservant?"

"Well" Merlin said, as he lay down next to her, "I saved his life"

"Really? The first time you met him?"

"Well... the first time I met him, I called him an ass"

"You called the prince that?"

"Yep" said Merlin, "Then he put me in jail"

"As you do of course" she said.

Suddenly he was smiling.

She looked at him, "What?"

"N-nothing" he said, looking away "It's just... this is nice. Just sitting here, the two of us, you know..."

She looked at him, he propped himself onto one elbow and looked down at her.

"Why did you leave?"

She shrugged, "We're gypsy's, we don't have homes... we don't live anywhere, we had to keep going"

"But you could have stayed with me" Merlin said, "Mother loved you"

She smiled, as she saw how the moonlight accentuated his cheekbones, she traced her hand over them, "I loved it too"

They stared at each other again, he brushed her hand away "El, what are we doing?"

She looked confused.

"I mean... we just met each other again and well... when we were kids, we were friends for a couple of days, and it was great"

"What are you trying to say?" she asked.

Merlin opened his mouth, then sighed, "I-It's nothing"

"Merlin, I can obviously see something's wrong, just tell me"

"I... I don't think we can be friends" Merlin said, as soon as the words left him, his mind was suddenly blank, and he had no idea what he had planned to say next.

After he said that, they both stared at each other, she shook her head and got up from where they sat "You should've said that earlier"

"Ell..." he began as he chased after her, but when they both stood there looking at each other, and she waited, he still didn't know what to say.

"Merlin!" someone shouted, Merlin just stared at her, still not speaking.

She looked at him, "It's okay, I won't bother you anymore"

He looked back as he heard Gaius coming down the hallway, and he turned back to Eleonora who was walking away from him, she disappeared into the darkness.

"Merlin, there you are" Gaius said, "What happened to you, you look like you've seen a ghost"

Merlin shook his head, "No... I just lost something"

--

JTOASN


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Morgana turned her head as she heard the music, a faint tune that she recalled only slightly.

"Why do they tease me so much?"

"We're just different, that's all..."

She turned and looked for the voice, a small boy was crying into his mother's lap.

"But, even the Romani kids do the same; they say that I have no father"

She took his small hands in hers, "Of course you have a father"

"Then why don't I know him? Why don't you speak of him?"

She paused and hugged the boy, "You're father... is far away"

"But why don't you talk about him?" he insisted, "Why won't you tell me his name?"

She sighed, "... If I speak of him, my heart aches and I forget myself. It was a long time ago, but you mustn't let the kids bully you around. You have a gift, which you got from your father, and though he isn't here... he is a part of you, and always will be"

The little boy smiled at his mother, suddenly the mum looked up and out the window. The boy turned around as well.

Morgana thought that he looked familiar, the little boy, then she remembered... she would know those eyes anywhere.

"A raid... quickly..." she said, as she took her son's hand and ran out the room. Morgana was about to chase after them, when a brick crashed into the window.

She looked back at the boy, who turned back.

"Merlin!" She gasped as she sat up in bed, she was shivering.

It took her a fair while to catch her breath back.

She was sure that she had just seen Merlin's eyes looking straight at her.

Had she just seen Merlin's childhood?

But, why?

She sighed to herself, and decided to get up, she had to ask Gaius about Merlin's past. What was his mother talking about when she said that he had a gift?

From what she'd seen, there was nothing out of the ordinary about him, sure strange things happened while he was around but...

Magical things tended to happen.

Wait... Merlin, couldn't be... a wizard?

"No, no... That's impossible"

But deep down inside, she always knew that there was something different about him.

She had to tell Gaius about this, or she needed a stronger sleep potion.

As Morgana walked out, she saw Aragorn, "Morning"

"Morning, milady" he greeted her, "How are you this beautiful morning?"

"Fine" she said, blushing, "What's happening?"

"We're preparing our things to leave, the roads seem clear enough so that we can make our way back"

"Already?" Morgana asked, at the moment she really enjoyed having Aragorn around, even if it was just in spite of Arthur.

"Yeah" He said, smiling at her, "Winds are blowing our way, we've got to set our sales"

Morgana nodded, "Of course"

There was an awkward silence as the two stood there, "The King said that we might be accompanied to the shore, for safety measures... we'll be leaving later tonight"

"Well, that's good, and so where are you off to?"

"Back home I suppose" he said shrugging.

"Yes, but wher-"

"Morgana" Gwen cut in, "Excuse me, but the King is expecting you for breakfast"

Morgana nodded, "Of course, I'll be with you in a moment"

She turned back to Aragorn, "I'm sorry, but it seems I'm needed elsewhere. Good luck with your preparations, do come by to say goodbye when you leave"

Morgana turned and saw Merlin mumbling to himself as he walked to his room, Gwen hadn't noticed him, and she thought better than to draw attention to him. Gwen had been awfully distracted lately, and her thoughts were that it was purely about Merlin.

Whereas when Merlin got to his room, he occupied himself in trying to think if he had left anything out for Arthurs trip, when he was satisfied that he had finally remembered everything, did he go back to repeating and trying to memorize the speech he had prepared for Eleonora.

"It was a misunderstanding, I didn't mean... I didn..." Merlin sighed to himself, what was paced around his room, what was the point?

He stood there and looked out the window, at the tents in the distance, she'll be leaving soon, and it's not like her appearances are constant.

The door opened and there was a slight inhale of breath, he turned "Eleonora?"

"Sorry" she said, not looking at him, "I came for my brother's shirt"

"Eleonora" Merlin started, but his mind went blank, she paused but when she didn't say anything she took the shirt off the bed.

"There's nothing left to say Merlin"

"About before..." he said, trying to remember what it was he had practiced.

"You made yourself clear Merlin" she said, as she tried to turn away from him.

"No... I didn't" he said, and he grabbed her wrist, and forcefully pulled her towards him.

She finally looked him in the eyes, as they stood there in the middle of the room. He tried to remember something that he had memorized, but his mouth was dry and his mind was blank.

She put her hand on his chest, and tried to push him away, but he refused to move.

"This isn't a go-"

But his lips met hers, and as he did he forgot everything that he had prepared to say to her; all the sentences to get her to speak to him again, so that he could apologize, were completely gone from his mind. He pulled away from her, and looked into her eyes.

"I said that I didn't want to be friends, because... I want to be more than friends" His head was spinning as he said this, suddenly embarrassed and extremely aware of his surroundings.

He moved away from her, what was he thinking?

"Merlin?"

He didn't look at her, even though she was in front of him "No... This is..."

But she cut him off as she took his face and kissed him, his lips were just a little chapped and he was a bit shocked but she really didn't care. He kissed her back, and surely her heart started to beat a little faster when she placed her hand on his chest, and felt his heart beating just as fast as hers was.

Suddenly, all those emotions that he had tried to keep in check, all those urges that he had tried to control started to come forward.

At some point he had started to kiss her neck and he ran his hand nervously over her bare shoulders, he wondered briefly if all those notes in the Anatomy book downstairs, were meant to be used in this sort of way, if not, he was glad that Gaius had shown him.

"Merlin..."

"Hm?" Merlin mumbled.

"You... we have to stop..." she pushed Merlin away from her, and looked around the room, briefly wondering why she had come here in the first place, and if she really meant what she was saying.

He looked at her, expectantly, and drew her closer to him again.

"But, what if someone...?"

He understood what she meant, in the past they had always been, *cough* interrupted, and now, when they were finally alone, they didn't want anything to spoil this moment "_**Claudo**_**"**

**The door glowed briefly, and he smiled to himself. **

--

JTOASN


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Merlin!" Gaius said, as he came into the young wizard's room. "What have you done?"

"Me? No... Nothing" Merlin said.

"Exactly, I need those herbs that I asked for hours ago, what have you been doing?" Gaius asked, "And cleaning your room is not an excuse... really Merlin"

Gaius was shaking his head as he looked around the room; Merlin suddenly saw a piece of jewellery that belonged to Eleonora.

As Gaius turned around Merlin muttered a spell and the bangles scuttled under a shirt.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"Did you just say a spell?"

"Me? No, no... I didn't say anything"

Gaius narrowed his eyes at Merlin, who stood shrugging, "S-so, so um... what is it that you wanted? H-herbs?"

"Are you alright Merlin?"

"F-fine"

"You seem, different" he said.

Merlin shrugged again, "I'll go get those herbs for you then" he said, he walked past and picked up the shirt that concealed the bangles.

Running out into the empty courtyard, Merlin was relieved that Gaius didn't find anything of Eleonora's, no doubt that there would be questions and enquiries.

And Merlin wouldn't know what to say, what could he say?

Merlin saw Arthur coming back from the trip, he couldn't be seen with this, and then he saw another gypsy girl walking towards him "Oh, excuse me, are you with the troupe?"

"Yes" The girl said.

"Can you give this to Eleonora?" Merlin said, the girl nodded and took the shirt.

"Merlin..." Arthur said, as he approached. In his mind, he concluded that the girl Merlin was speaking to was Eleonora.

"How was the trip?"

"More productive with your absence" he said, "I need you to prepare my horses again, I will be accompanying the last of the troupe tonight"

"Yes, of course"

Arthur turned to walk away, and then looked back and looked at Merlin "You seem... different"

"Me? No, no... not different. But er... I need to get some herbs for Gaius"

Arthur nodded, "Don't forget my horses"

Arthur watched as his servant walked away from him, there was something about him that seemed off, but it was Merlin. He was strange like that.

"Arthur"

"Morgana? Yes?" Arthur asked as he looked at her, "What's wrong?"

"I... I need to talk to you, about... Merlin"

Had she noticed the change as well? Arthur thought, "Hm... he seems, different"

"I was going to say the same thing" Morgana stated, "And then there's Gwen..."

Arthur nodded, there was _that _problem as well, he was still completely bewildered at how two girls were in love with Merlin, and yet he, the bloody _prince, _couldn't get the one girl he wanted to (for one day) not insult him.

"Arthur?"

"Did you say something?" Arthur asked.

Morgana raised her eyebrow, "Perhaps you are sick, or... you're thinking about that gypsy girl again, you really are self centred aren't you?"

Arthur glared at her, "I have a kingdom to help run, go back... to wash your hair or something..."

She 'hmphed' and walked away, leaving Arthur thinking by himself.

I suppose if he had been in love with any other girl, it wouldn't be as fun.

Wait... did he just say he was in love with Morgana?

No, no... of course not.

-

JTOASN


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The path that they had decided to take was a dangerous one; it was prone to violence and attacks from bandits, not to mention that it passed a mountain which often had falling rocks and boulders. But when they got word that a large storm had intended to hit they had decided to leave as early as possible, to catch the good winds and get back to their home as soon as possible.

It was a stupid idea.

Arthur galloped along the path, making sure that it was clear for them to pass. Whilst keeping one eye out on the path, he also kept one eye out for the illustrious girl that had danced the first night, which he hadn't heard or seen since... Anabella.

A large gust of wind blew away his preoccupation; he looked up just in time to see a large boulder fall harmlessly in front of him, by a couple of meters.

"Guards, clear that boulder, we need to get to the shore as quickly as possible" Arthur commanded, the guards nodded and moved forward.

He looked up at the sky and at the billowing clouds that loomed ominously over them, beyond them, the stars, but something unnatural and disturbing was flowing in his mind when he looked around him.

When they started the small journey, he thought nothing of the pan in his gut, but chose to ignore it, but now it was as vivid as ever, as if an invisible someone was yelling in his face, muffled and distorted.

"My Lord?"

They _should _turn back, but this feeling disappeared.

Arthur turned, and then nodded, "Proceed"

A scream pierced the air only moments after he spoke those words, he looked up to see the lightning of the storm hit the mountain side, it collided with rocks that fell downwards.

The people ran out of the way of the falling rocks.

A flash of lightning pierced the darkness that had suddenly appeared, and more rocks were falling, but Arthur wasn't running, he wasn't moving at all.

They were falling towards him.

"Arthur!"

"Morgana wake up, wake up... it's Gwen!"

She shivered as Gwen held her, she had tears down her cheeks and she was sobbing. The room flashed in the lighting chaos outside, she started to shake her head.

"Arthur... he's... we have to... the rocks..." she sobbed, "We can't let him leave the castle"

"Shh... it's ok"

But Morgana left Gwen and she ran from her room down the stairs, the rain was falling like needles and the lighting illuminated the castle without the need of candles, she ran until she met with the entrance.

"Morg –" a voice began to inquire but Morgana flung her arms around him, "Morgana?!"

"Arthur... you're okay" she said, sobbing.

He looked at Gwen in alarm, and patted the sobbing ward gently on the back, "Of course I am"

She pulled away from him, still sobbing she looked at him and the face of remorse that he held, "What happened?"

-

JTOASN


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Merlin was just finishing his rounds, Arthur had forbidden him to go deliver the gypsies at the shore, because of past history, and how it would jeopardize security.

But not only that, he couldn't even say goodbye to them.

There was a knock on the door, and Merlin smiled, "Come to say goodb- Gwen? What are you doing here?"

"Who else were you expecting?" she asked.

"N-no one" Merlin stammered.

"Merlin, look... I need to tell you this" Gwen sighed, and nervously played with her fingers, "I... I find this a bit difficult to say"

Merlin glanced at the door, expecting Eleanora to come past, she promised she'd come to say goodbye.

"Maybe you should go and think about it and then come back" Merlin suggested, hoping that it didn't sound like he wanted to get rid of her, they were friends after all.

"No!" No... I have to say this now" she said, Merlin looked at her, shocked at the sudden outburst.

"Okay"

Gwen bit her lip and tried to remember what she wanted to tell Merlin, most of all... that she was in love with him.

"Gwen?" Merlin asked when she did not speak for several minutes.

She looked up at him, "I'll come back later"

"Okay" he said, nodding, she blushed and walked out of the room, mentally cursing her shyness for not being able to tell him.

It had been so obvious to everyone, _but _Merlin!

Whereas Merlin himself was confused at the turn of events, he looked at a note left for him from Gaius, mentioning things such as, 'meeting with the king might run late... close the windows, it seems a storm is brewing... clean up your room before myths of lost gold are started...'

He turned around as he felt someone walking into the room, he smiled "Hey"

"Hi" Eleonora said, "We're moving the voyage up, the winds are picking up so we might be able to catch a quick tide back home"

He nodded, it had been slightly awkward from their last meeting, but other than that, nothing had changed between them.

"I just came to say goodby –"

"Don't go!" Merlin suddenly said, shocking both himself and Eleanora.

"Merlin..." she began, but he walked towards her and took her hands in his.

"Don't go" he continued, "Stay here, we could be happy here"

She smiled, and shook her head, "We couldn't"

"Sure we could, we could run away and get married in a village"

"Somewhere where they don't know us..."

"... We could make trinkets and good luck charms, which actually work..."

She smiled, "...tell your mother she can come live with us..."

"... We could have kids, grandkids, dogs, monkeys or elephants if we want..."

"... and then we'd live happily ever after, till the end of our days, right?"

They both stared at each other, and she moved forwards and hugged him, he held her and kissed the top of her head, trying hard to not imagine this life.

"It'd be nice" she said into his chest.

"We _could _do it" he said, but there was a note of disillusion in his voice, "We could run away, we wouldn't have to tell anyone"

A tear trickled down her face, as she watched the castle get smaller in the wagon, as they made their way to the shore.

"We _could've _been happy" she whispered to no one.

-

JTOASN


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"There are some gypsies on the other side of the forest, come with me"

Merlin looked back at his mother, "I can't"

"Come on Merlin, no one will find out" Will said, he leaned conspiratorially towards Merlin, "I hear that they have exotic foods and such, wouldn't it be nice to get something for your mother"

Merlin, looking for an excuse to betray his mother's wishes of not wandering, grinned.

"Well... if you say it like that"

They both escaped from the village, under the guise of collecting some firewood, and they ran towards (where they believed) the gypsies would be, however after 30 minutes of running and chattering, they didn't seem to be where they _should _have been.

"You're lost..." Merlin called out to William who was walking a couple of meters ahead of him.

"I'm not"

"You are"

"Alright... maybe just a bit" Will said, he stopped to allow Merlin to catch up with him, the two boys stood there, looking around for a couple of seconds, "We should head back before it rains"

But the rain had already begun, slow but determined to beat the canopy of the forest and to hit the ground, as they stood there.

"How about he- agh!" Merlin fell down a trap, the giant whole dug in the ground for the use of catching bears, instead caught Merlin.

"Merlin! Are you okay?" William asked.

"Yes, I'm having a wonderful time down here, go get help!" Merlin shouted, although he could have used magic to help him out, he wouldn't do it whilst William was there, his mother had warned him against it.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yes!" cried Merlin, "Go get help!"

"Okay" there was a rustling of leaves, and then running, before the rustling began again, "You sure?"

"Just go!"

He waited for at least 10 minutes, before he was sure that William was gone, but time in a hole was insubstantial, it could have been thirty minutes for all he knew.

He looked around at the hole, the walls were clear and smooth, there was no possible way out by climbing, he saw no vines or roots that he could hold onto to get out.

He thought of using magic, before he heard voices of men, hunters.

"Help!" he called out, "Please, help me!"

It did not cross his mind to wander, who these men were, whether they were friends or foes of the village, as he was far from his home.

"Hey, over here!" He heard one call out, and as Merlin looked up he saw a grubby faced boy looking down from the opening, he grinned.

"Hey, can you help me out"

"Father!" the boy called, "There's a rat in one of the traps"

Merlin glared at the boy, and would have answered back if it wasn't important for him to get out of the hole, as the rain began to get heavier, so he remained silent.

An older man peered down at Merlin, and saw that it indeed wasn't a bear but a boy, around the age of ten; he knocked his son's head.

"Go get a rope" he said, and the grubby boy disappeared, "How are you down there?"

Merlin gulped, "A bit wet sir"

The man laughed, "There's no need to call me that, do you know who I am?"

"At the moment, you're the man that will get me out of here"

The man grinned, he liked this boy.

"Get over here Aragorn" he said, and they threw the rope down, and assisted Merlin in getting out of the trap, he looked down at his now torn and soiled clothes.

"Mother's going to kill me"

"What about your father boy? Is he a hunter?"

Merlin did not speak; he did not know much of his father, as his mother did not speak regularly (if not at all) about him, so he shrugged.

The man seemed to understand and did not question him again, "Well... we best to get you cleaned up"

The group of men walked together and Merlin found himself wondering who they were and where they came from, when he asked them, they thought it obvious.

"We come from everywhere and nowhere"

This did not seem so obvious to Merlin.

But as they reached a clearing, Merlin saw what they meant, they were gypsies. He had found them, or rather they found him.

"Look at yourself son" said the man, Merlin grimaced.

"I'm sorry I ruined your trap" he said.

"Don't worry about that" he asked, "Do you live around here?"

Merlin nodded, "I live in Ealdor, just beyond the forest... I came with a friend, but he went to get help"

"Hm..." he said, "I suppose there is not much choice, and we have to take you back"

"I can find my own way" Merlin said, but the man ignored him.

"Come on" he said, and he led Merlin out of the forest and showed him the path to the village, Merlin listened to the man speak of distant lands and was fascinated. He himself, had never gone that far from his village, and now longed for it.

When they reached the village, the man turned and looked at Merlin with curiosity in his eyes.

"You know your way now"

Merlin nodded, "Thank you sir"

The man grinned again, "You are welcome back tomorrow, when the sun is up and bright in the sky"

The boy nodded enthusiastically, "Thank you"

Merlin smiled as he heard his mother and William calling for him, he ran towards his house and glanced backwards to see the man looking at him, as if he knew something that Merlin did not.

-

JTOASN


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"I just don't think it's fair, they were going home anyway... and she saved Arthur's life" Morgana said, but Uther would not hear a word of it.

"That does not excuse the fact that this woman, was practicing magic in our lands... it will not be tolerated"

"You're a fool" Morgana said, as she stormed out of the room.

Arthur looked at his father, "Perhaps she has a point... they gypsies were leaving, there would be no point in keeping the witch here"

"But if we let one go, the others will think us lenient, I will not consider it... she will be executed"

"What of a trial?"

Uther glared at his son, which silenced the prince, "_You _saw her do magic, _the guards _saw her do magic... there is no need for one, the evidence is there... she will be executed, go make the preparations for tomorrow morning"

Arthur nodded, and left the room, knowing there was no way around the situation. He couldn't believe that the girl that he had been so entranced with was a witch, and although she did save his life... he had to be the one destined to kill her.

He walked to his room, and entered. Seeing the breakfast that he had this morning, still there... the bed sheets unmade and untidy.

More so, what else, or who else could possibly aggravate the prince.

"Merlin!"

He walked into Gaius' room and saw the nod of understanding from Gaius; Merlin had not come out of his room and therefore meant that he had not done ANY of his work.

"Merlin!"

Arthur knocked the door open to his servant's room, "Mer...!"

But he stopped in his tracks when he saw his servants room, there were clothes littered everywhere, pages strewn across the floor... he knew that Merlin was a bit of a slob, but this was... something else.

He finally spotted Merlin sitting on top of a cupboard in the corner of his room.

"Merlin" Arthur said sternly, "What is the meaning of this?"

Merlin did not look at the prince, which would have angered him, but to his surprise did not. There seemed to be an aura around Merlin that warned that he shouldn't.

"Merlin" Arthur said, more forcefully.

There was still no response, and Arthur moved forwards, he saw that Merlin was holding what seemed to be a crystal globe in his hands.

"... You're going to kill her"

Arthur looked up at Merlin, "What does it matter to you?"

Merlin looked into his eyes, and Arthur could plainly see, the emptiness, sadness and regret in his eyes. It was heart wrenching to see the usually bright and enthusiastic servant, in so much emotional distress. It was as if he was a completely different person, someone that Arthur didn't know.

It was then, that Arthur understood, _she's the girl._

"... Merlin"

But Arthur didn't know what else to say.

How can you tell someone that they have no choice but to let this happen?

He walked out of the room, leaving Merlin alone.

Arthur had always been the type to put himself first, he never actually wished anyone happiness with anything, unless it helped himself in some way. But he had never seen Merlin look so, in love with someone.

Scratch that, he had never seen _anyone _in love before.

It was just something that he didn't notice, or didn't care about. So he felt strange when he thought of something, something that he could do to help Merlin.

"Sire?"

He looked up to see Gwen, "Guinevere, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I came to see Merlin" she said, "I heard that he didn't work this morning, so I was worried that perhaps he was sick"

Arthur was stuck; Merlin was in no state to see Gwen, who was obviously smitten with him, but... Merlin was obviously in love with this other girl... the witch.

But was she in love with him?

Would Merlin be happier with Gwen than with the witch?

His future may have depended on this very moment, (and it did) because the decision that he made, could build or destroy a relationship.

"He's sleeping at the moment" Arthur said finally.

"Oh... perhaps I could just..."

"It wouldn't be proper to see him at the moment; surely a girl such as you has other jobs to preoccupy herself with until Merlin is feeling better and more him"

"Y-yes my lord"

Arthur watched her walk away, and hoped that he made the right decision.

He walked down the stairs towards the prison; he had to have a right conscience about this, and about the relationship between Merlin and the witch.

-

JTOASN


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Have a nice trip?" Merlin glared at the boy named Aragorn from where he sat up, the boy smiled and ran away with the fish.

Merlin picked himself up and out of the river; he had been led there under the pretext that he would be assisting in collecting the fish from the traps that they had laid earlier in the river.

Instead, after he had helped Aragorn, the older boy pushed him into the lake.

His feet squished as he walked back, he sat by a tree to take them off, and sniffed.

He looked up to the clear dark sky, and saw no sign of clouds, but he could smell rain... and jasmine.

"Who are you?"

He gasped and instinctively slowed down the scene, but as he turned he felt that it was not working, and it sped up almost instantly.

A girl stood there, in slight shock.

"S-sorry!" Merlin cried out, "I... I..."

"You do magic!" she exclaimed.

"No... no, tha-that was just"

The girl merely smiled, "It's alright grandma says that I got magic too"

Merlin looked at the girl, she smiled at him, "I'm Eleanora... are you the boy that they found yesterday?"

"Y-yeah..." he said blushing slightly "Um... I have to go, um... a boy threw me into the lake, I don't think they like me much"

She rolled her eyes, "Don't worry about it, it's only Aragorn, he doesn't like non-gypsies, he's a prat, you shouldn't listen to what prats say or do"

"I'll remember that" he said, and then he shivered.

"You must be freezing, come on... we'll get you some clothes, so you don't catch a cold" she said, and they walked back to the campsite. She led him to a tent that she shared with some other women, and handed her some clothes.

"They're my brothers, but I don't think he'll mind"

Merlin nodded, and as he got changed she took his clothes and started to wring them out. For at the age of ten, their bodies were not developed enough to be embarrassing.

"There you go... I think they'd be dry for tomorrow"

"I think this shirt is too small" he said.

"Is it? Oh... well, you can have this one" she said, handing him another from a pile, he looked at the gray scarf that came with the shirt.

"Eleanora, dad's looking for y-" Aragorn stopped at the sight of Merlin in his sister's room, he gaped and then... "Father!"

Eleanora groaned, "Oh no... come on"

She took his hand and started to run through the rows of tents.

"Aragorn's your brother?!"

"Here!" she said, as she found an empty tent, and pushed him inside, "Stay here for a bit, I'll go take care of my brother, sorry"

He nodded, and she disappeared leaving him in the darkness of the tent, he looked around and produced light out of his hand, there was a strange assortment of beads and jewellery amongst them.

"Charms" someone said.

Merlin gasped and turned the light off instinctively, but there was no need for it, as the woman that spoke had lit her own candles.

"S-sorry" he said, hurriedly and he tried to get out.

"Merlin"

He stopped and looked at the woman, "H-How do you know my name?"

"We have legends of you..." she said, "Come, sit"

Merlin sat down and vaguely wondered if she saw the magic that he had made.

"I did, but do not be afraid, for gypsies carry magic in their blood as well... you've met Eleanora, she has the strongest line of magic in her veins in a decade of this family... but you, you are something else"

"How do you know?"

"I am a scryer, I can see into your past, present and your future..."

"You can?" Merlin asked he was now intrigued, "What does it say?"

"You hold a grand future ahead of you, but you will learn in time... that not all fairytales have a happy ending" she said, she spoke in a tone that suggested that it was a solemn sort of future, his thoughts drifted. "Your future is ahead of you, but it's your past that creates you"

She leaned forward.

"When you get older you must be great and wise and never forget that your mother is your best friend, you must always listen to her guidance, don't forget all she did for you. The future lies with the mother, and so when she sends you... you must go"

Merlin did not understand, but nodded nonetheless.

"Merlin..." she looked sincerely into his eyes, "You have begun a path, different from other people... don't forget that whatever you do, you cannot change your future or destiny. For I see a consequence hanging in the stars, I warned Eleanora's father, and he understood it when you first came here... your stars were always destined to meet, but they were never meant to be..."

There was a rustle, and Eleanora appeared, she smiled at Merlin.

"Come on..."

Merlin turned back and saw that the woman had vanished; he looked at the chair in curiosity. Although he did not understand her words, he shrugged her warnings off.

"Come on!" she said, and Merlin ran out after her.

She grinned, after a while of walking back to Ealdor "Where did you learn that magic?"

"Oh..." he blushed, "It's just something that I can do; I've always been able to do it"

Ahead they saw the flickering lights of the village, "What's it like?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know..." she said, "To live in one place, for all your life?"

"It's... a bit boring" he said, "I mean... you do one thing, and the whole village knows about it in 5 minutes, and it's a bit... predictable, because you know who you grow up with, and you know that one day, you'll have to marry a friend or something... I wouldn't like that at all. I'd rather be a gypsy"

"Would your parents mind?"

"Well... I only live with my mum, I don't know anything about my dad" Merlin confessed, "I guess I'd stay here for her. What about you? Would you stay?"

She shook her head, "I don't have a mum, she died a long time ago... but I got my father and brother to take care of, grandma helps... but I couldn't leave them"

Merlin grimaced, "Yeah, your brother seems so nice"

"Sorry that I didn't mention that he was my brother, he gets really annoying..." she said, "And he _really _doesn't like it when boys talk to me, he's a bit over protective. He tends to take things out of context and he doesn't think about what he does... it's really annoying. I don't have any friends"

"I'll be your friend"

They looked at each other, and she smiled, "I should go, it's getting dark"

"Will you be okay?"

"Yeah" she said, and she started to walk away. Merlin smiled and walked towards his house as well, when he heard his voice being called.

He turned to see Eleanora run back, and she kissed him innocently on the mouth, before running back into the darkness.

The next day however, as he made his way back to the clearing, he saw no sign of them gypsies, they left that night; which, he reasoned, was why she had kissed him, a way of saying goodbye, without actually saying it.

He turned in the centre of the clearing, at the emptiness, when he spotted a small parcel by a tree, he walked towards it and saw his clothes dry and set aside neatly.

There was no note, but a scarf; red... it smelled like jasmine and fresh rain.

-

JTOASN


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Their hands touched through the bars, and their eyes glistened with tears, they didn't say anything as they looked at each other.

"I'm sorry..." he said, she shook her head.

"Don't be... this isn't your fault" Merlin tried to hold back the tears, knowing that Arthur was there.

"I'll be right back" Arthur said, and he left the two.

Merlin gripped onto her hands tighter, as he finally let the tears stream down his face.

"I can get you out" Merlin said, "I can get you out"

She shook her head, "You can't, you'll be killed along side me"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take; I won't let you die... I won't see you die"

She held his face in her hand, "I won't see _you_ die for my sake"

Merlin leaned in, and they kissed through the bars, the kiss was salty as it was tainted with their tears, he kept on telling her that he would get her out.

"I'm gonna get you out. I'll save you... we can go and get that house, and have those kids -" his voice broke as he said this.

She gave him a weak smiled, and looked at him, "... a happily ever after"

He tried to laugh, but it came out as a choked sob, "We can get out of here..."

"And hide for the rest of our lives?"

He shook his head, "We'll go somewhere where no one knows who we are, I'll run away with you"

"Merlin... the other night..." she said.

He looked at her, and tried not to remember that rush of passion that once consumed them, on that one night, they were free and uninhibited, a sort of magic that he could not describe. It was a moment, when his mind, soul and world were filled with no other thought, than to love and to be loved by her.

"Did you mean it?"

He nodded, "Of course I do... is that alright?"

She nodded, "Yeah... I love you too; I want you to know that, and remember"

"Don't talk like that"

Reality sat back in as they heard Arthur walking back, he watched them.

"We'll make this work..." he whispered to her.

"Merlin, I think it's time for you to go" she said.

"No" Merlin shook his head "I won't go... I won't leave you...I won't say it"

She looked at him, and he tried not to cry in front of Arthur, he leaned in and whispered to her, "I'll always love you"

Merlin rushed out of the room, as one would do, like pulling off a bandaid quicker to not feel the sharp pain that you had to endure regardless.

Arthur looked back at the girl, who moved away from the bars. The dungeons were quiet and sound echoed; he heard what they had said before.

He walked back to his chambers, not knowing what to say.

-

She turned around to see if there was anyone following her, there wasn't; Morgana made her way down to the dungeons, and looked at the girl that was to be killed. This was a normal occurrence for Morgana to go to the dungeons to see those to be executed.

As she looked down the hallway, she spotted the guards throwing away a bucket.

"Evening milady"

"What's that?"

"The prisoner is throwing up, she doesn't seem to like the last meal we've given her" he said, "are you here to see her?"

"If it's not too much..." Morgana said.

He shook his head, "Of course not milady"

He led her to the dungeons where they kept the prisoners, "Has anyone else come to see her?"

"Prince Arthur and his manservant"

Merlin? She thought why would he be here?

"They left a while ago; the servant seemed a bit upset about the whole thing"

"Well, Merlin is a friend of the gypsy I'm sure it's a bit of a shock to see one of them die" Morgana said, answering the question that the soldier had been hinting at.

"Right... well it's just that one"

She nodded, and walked towards the bars.

She looked inside, and saw that the girl was sleeping, but even with the moonlight, she saw that she was beautiful, and so familiar. She stirred in her sleep, and Morgana saw her face clearly, and although it was younger than in her dream, she would know it anywhere.

She stepped back as the dream rushed back towards her, in her mind the dots began to connect. The girl opened her eyes and saw Morgana standing there.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry" she whispered, before rushing off.

Morgana ran as fast as she could (without being conspicuous) to Arthur's room, she burst in and exclaimed "She can't die!"

Arthur groaned, "Morgana, I've heard this time and time again, and I'm telling you... I have no choice in –"

She told him why, he stopped and looked at her, shock and disbelief evident in his eyes, "What? H... How do you know this?"

"I, I had a dream... there was a boy, with Merlin's eyes, and a woman... at first I thought it was Merlin when he was a boy, but... when I saw the girl in prison, I knew..."

"But a dream doesn't mean anything"

Morgana exhaled, "This is different, I've always had this... ability, to see things in my dreams, like when you broke your hip when we were younger, I don't know what it is, but I know, that she can't die"

Arthur looked at her, "We'll ask Gaius to inspect her"

"If you do, Merlin will find out" Morgana said, "You don't know what he'd do... he doesn't... really think about things, like Gwen... when she was imprisoned"

"That's true" Arthur said, he groaned, "I... I don't know what to do"

"Tell your father, do something... you can't kill her"

Arthur looked at Morgana, and knew that speaking to his father about the girl would evidently only cause more problems, but he couldn't let her die or, if Morgana was right...

He'd be killing Merlin's unborn child.

-

JTOASN


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

He spun around as he heard voices, he inhaled, there was no need to be worried, and he would knock out the guards as he usually did, then...

He'd let her out.

Merlin nodded, "It's that simple"

He inhaled deeply, as he made his way down the stairs; his heart pounding heavily in his ears, even though he had done this sort of thing before, it had never been more important than it was now.

He had no help in doing this, and usually he did, so that's what made it more nerve wracking.

The nerves started to show more as he saw the guards, his head started to spin, and he collapsed onto a pile on the floor before he knew why.

When he woke the next time, he was in his own room, he panicked.

Perhaps he had imagined the night before, and he could still rescue her before the execution.

"Merlin, you're awake" Gaius said, as he entered the room.

"Not now Gaius" he said, as he tried to rush out the door.

"Sit down"

"Gaius I don't have time for-"

"Sit down!" Gaius said forcefully, grabbing his arm and pulling him back into the room, "Merlin, **not** now"

"Gaius, you don't understand... I have to save her, she can't... she..." Merlin trailed off, seeing the look in his uncle's eyes, he started to shake his head, "...she..."

Gaius took a deep breath, "You've been unconscious for a week now"

Merlin started to tremble, shaking his head as tears flowed from his eyes, "No. No... I don't beli... it can't... I loved her"

"I'm sorry Merlin" Gaius said, he tried to hug the crying figure, but Merlin pushed Gaius back, angry.

"... she... we we-w-were gonna g-get out of here..." he said, "I was gonna marry her..."

"Merlin..."

"I don't believe you!" he screamed, he started to fling things all over the room, angry and everyone and everything, especially himself. "She can't be..."

Gaius just stood there and watched Merlin destroy his room, he had to grieve.

When he finally stopped, he collapsed on a heap on the floor, trying to hold in the tears, trying to not mourn her, because he didn't believe that she was gone.

"She... she can't be... dead" he said these words in a small whisper, as if he said it any louder, it would make it truer.

Gaius finally was able to put his hand on Merlins shoulder; he looked up at him and hugged him.

"Shh... Merlin it's alright" Gaius said, and he felt Merlin start to cry, start to mourn earnestly for Eleaonora.

"W-what... w-will he think abo-about me?" Merlin said.

Gaius wondered if he was speaking about Arthur, who had been suspicious about Merlin's relationship since the gypsies first came.

"It w... was my fault, I sh-shouldn't h-have let her g-go"

"It's not your fault"

"H-he n-ne-ver liked me" Merlin sobbed, "He hate-hated me near h-her, she alw-always said tha-t he hated peo-ple near her... he was r-ri-right... I should've never met her in the f-ff-first place"

Gaius sat confused, "It... It just wasn't meant to be"

Merlin shook his head, "We were always destined to meet"

He sniffed and moved away from Gaius, "C-can you just leave me for a bit"

Gaius nodded and left Merlin, as he closed the door he looked back and saw Merlin taking a large staff out from under his bed, he then saw a small globe in the warlock's hands.

Closing the door, he sighed and walked to the table where he had his ingredients set up for a new potion that would knock people out for a week, depending on the concentration.

Gaius closed the book, and looked back up the stairs to Merlin's room "You'll thank me one day"

-

Arthur looked out the window as Merlin made his way to the stables, had seen the change in Merlin shortly after that; he was fulfilling his duties as well as he could, and Arthur never complained.

He was the prince, and as a prince he had seen how much his friend had suffered, he began to realise how much people would suffer for losing someone they loved, due to his father's rules.

When he become's king, it will be different, he'd let them do magic.

He'd let them all free.

It just took the prince of Camelot a long time to figure it out, and for some... it was just too late.

He looked back down at the letter he had written, re-read it and checked that there would be no possible affiliation with his name.

There was a rustle as Gwen came in to take some quilts, he nodded and turned to her.

"Guinevere"

"Yes, my Lord"

"I need you to take this to the messenger, as discretely as you can... do not let anyone see you, tell him that it is bound to the western docks. Let no one stop him"

Gwen nodded, and bowed, leaving Arthur alone; he walked up to the roof and found Morgana.

"How is he?"

"Depressed, but at least his work's improved" Arthur said, trying to sound normal, but guilt seemed to seep into his voice.

"You don't need to feel guilty about it, you did what you had to do" she said, "There was nothing else we could do. If your father had found out, he would have killed her regardless... he has no empathy for any magical being, born or unborn"

"We could tell Merlin" Arthur said, "He's suffering so much"

"No" Morgana said, "Not until we're _sure_ they're gone"

Arthur nodded; Morgana looked at him thinking that he didn't seem to be the strong prince that he usually was... he seemed so unsure.

There was a loud thunk as the gates were raised; a messenger on a horse galloped away from the castle, the two watched him.

"I just can't believe that somewhere out there Merlin's going to have a son that he'll never know"

Morgana looked at Arthur and put her hand on his.

He looked at her and then retreated back to his princely self, "We'll have to keep telling him that she's dead, and hope her name never reappears again"

Morgana nodded, and looked out into the land that Arthur would one day inherit.

"I promise my Kingdom will be different"

JTOASN

-


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

_So the tale of Merlin's never-to-be love ended, and though the gypsies were forever banned from England, and the name Eleanora never mentioned again, everything started to go as it was meant to be._

_Arthur became a King that the people cherished, for he understood them and their problems, he freed magic and gave it back to the land and it's people, and released Merlin from his secrets._

_The land prospered under their watch._

_Merlin was a great warlock and Arthur a great warrior, together they were to create one of the greatest legends the world had ever known._

_To this day, Arthur never told Merlin about Eleanora._

_But sometimes the King would wonder about the gypsy girl that had once danced for them, and the son that his friend would never know._

_He wondered where they were sometimes, but never drew attention to find out._

_And sometimes, when Arthur knew that Merlin wasn't looking, he looked at the staff that Merlin clung to for everything, it was badly scorched and scratched from wear and constant use._

_When Arthur looked closely at the globe, he would see two golden butterflies, frozen in mid flight._

_Was it a reminder of a naive dream; a dream about a house, monkeys and elephants, with children and grandchildren, a happily ever after?_

_Merlin clung to this moment every moment of every day that one moment captured in glass._

_And so it was true what the people said._

_The globe was the source of Merlin's power._

_Till beyond the end of his days._

The End.


	20. Epilogue

That's it for Saving Merlin.

I know it might not have been what some might have wanted.

But I did say it was a tragedy.

And I don't really believe in happy ever afters.

Thank you all who have read and reviewed it.

I do appreciate the comments.

I look forward to seeing what you guys think now that's it's done.

Thank you for bearing with me.

-Jtoasn


	21. Chapter 21

**First of all, thank you to everyone that reviewed this story. I really didn't I'd make it if it wasn't for you guys. **

**Secondly, I just thought I'd add this part because… I don't know. I just figured that Merlin would be unhappy with Arthur if he really thought that's how everything ended. So I wanted him to be happy again.**

**Thirdly, there's a trailer for 'Saving Merlin' up on youtube, go onto my profile to find the link. Thank you for all that supported and are still supporting this story and me.**

**Fourthly, the reason why I had to repost this was because I had some trouble with this page.**

Echoes

For a long time he refused to close his eyes, thinking that he would wake up from this dream one day. That he would wake up, and she would still be here.

That she would still be with him…

He convinced himself that if he closed his eyes again, he should never be able to open them again. That he should do something so that he would never have to open his eyes again.

Because now, when he looked at the world; he didn't see everything like he used to see them. He didn't see the joy, the happiness or the good.

He saw himself alone.

At some point he did fall asleep.

But when he lifted his head, he felt a tear fall down his cheek, knowing that it was a dream and that he'd have to wake up… that it wasn't real, what he was seeing wasn't real.

Because she was in front of him and she was as beautiful as the first day he had seen her, and she was looking at him the same way that she always did.

She wasn't angry; she wasn't upset, she wasn't unhappy. And for once he didn't feel the same way she did.

He was angry; he was upset and very unhappy.

Because he knew that people don't come into this world thinking about death.

You don't imagine the people you love dying, not when you could have done something to prevent it, not when you could have saved them.

He wanted to say that he was sorry; that he couldn't save her, that he didn't have the guts to confess who he was.

But she was still looking at him like she always did.

He didn't want to look at her, he didn't want to face her with his guilt; it seemed to eat him alive, chewing his heart with every beat that it took.

When he looked up, she was gone.

He panicked, only reliving the fact that he had lost her again.

Then the screaming began.

He turned and turned…

Looking for her, wanting to help her, but knowing he couldn't.

He grabbed his head, trying to block it out, but it only got louder, more intense. It surrounded him and he seemed to drown in it, as it filled his mind, lungs and heart.

It stopped.

And then there was something else.

Another sound that he knew was more important.

The scream of a newborn…

The sound of a life…

The voice of his son.

Arthur walked into the room; Gaius shook his head at him.

"He still hasn't come out" he informed the prince, Arthur nodded, understanding.

Then the door opened, and Merlin walked out. He looked like he had been through hell, like he hadn't slept for days, hadn't eaten for years.

"Prince Arthur, sorry, I'll go get your breakfast now"

"I've already eaten Merlin" Arthur said, "Don't worry about it, go rest"

But Merlin shook his head, and for the first time in a long time, he smiled.

"We both know you can't take care of yourself" he said, "You're useless"

Arthur couldn't hide the smirk, "Well I've been building the list of things I want you to do, you can start with my armour"

Merlin nodded as Arthur walked out.

"Merlin" Gaius said, and he hugged him "I'm glad to see that you're alright"

"Yeah" Merlin said, thinking about his dream and the screaming child, "I'm alright"


End file.
